Haskins & Sells Foundation;Homer K. Jones & Co.;

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Haskins & Sells
Foundation
" My studies have often been inter­rupted
for financial reasons. Your Foun­dation's
grant to me at this time has
been a very real factor in preventing
another such interruption." These words
and hundreds of other expressions of
appreciation illuminate the work done
by the Haskins & Sells Foundation.
A non-profit organization begun in
1928, the Foundation carries on a va­riety
of projects, but is involved pri­marily
in two programs concerned with
accounting education. The first is a
$500 scholastic award, offered presently
to students at 79 colleges and univer­sities.
The recipient is selected by his
faculty from among the top five ac­counting
majors. The second is a $1,000
annual grant made to professors of ac­counting
to encourage further study.
At present 28 colleges and universities
participate in this program.
These awards and grants have been
given since 1956. Earlier Foundation
awards were less systematized, granted
as need and abilities of potential recipi­ents
appeared. Much of the spontaneity
of the earlier method still exists as is
seen by some of the Foundation's more
unusual projects. Here are three ex­amples.
Homer K. Jones & Co.
In 1910, while staying at the old Wal­dorf
Astoria in New York and attending
a meeting of the American Association
of Public Accountants (forerunner of
the AICPA), Homer K. Jones of Mem­phis,
Tennessee met Elijah Watt Sells.
Mr. Jones recalls having some spirited
conversations with Mr. Sells and on one
occasion having dinner at his home and
going to a performance of "The Merry
Widow."
Throughout the fifty-five years since
The first endowed chair at The Ohio
State University will be named The
James E. Hagerty Chair in Business
honoring the man who served as the
first dean of the College of Commerce
when it was founded in 1916. The
Foundation, with a contribution of
$5,000 is among the initial donors.
When Atlanta University, which has
a predominantly Negro student body,
applied for a faculty assistance grant,
the Foundation's Board felt its account­ing
curriculum did not qualify for an
award, but suggested the Foundation
would be glad to help in the school's
efforts to develop and upgrade the cur­riculum.
When the University accepted
this offer with enthusiasm, Professor
Bobert K. Mautz of the University of
Illinois was commissioned to work with
them to that end.
In 1958 the Haskins & Sells Founda­tion
gave the American Accounting
Association $25,000 to start its account­ing
fellowship fund. Since then many
accounting firms and other foundations
have contributed to keep the fund alive
and active. This year the Foundation
augmented the fund with an additional
$15,000 grant presented at the Ameri­can
Accounting Association Conference
held August 30-September 1 at the
University of Oklahoma.
then Mr. Jones has continued his friend­ships
with people in Haskins & Sells,
and this past September the practice of
his firm, Homer K. Jones & Co., was
combined with ours. Mr. Jones, who
founded his firm in 1905 and has thus
spent over 60 years in accounting, is
retiring, but will continue with H&S
in a consulting capacity. He has been a
prominent part of the Memphis com­munity,
and together with his brother,
who died some years ago, built up a
substantial practice. Among a number
of their clients with widespread opera-
The Foundation's projects could be
described at length, but it is really the
intent that is significant. Any profes­sion,
particularly one expanding as rap­idly
as accounting, needs more than
just skilled craftsmen to fill its ranks.
It needs men dedicated to excellence
and relentless in their pursuit of it. This
trait is formed during years of study.
Thus the Foundation's purpose is not
only to reward this excellence, but in
a sense to nurture it, to remove an ob­stacle
from the path wherever this can
be done. The Foundation's program
helps to draw the Firm ever closer to
the nation's educators. We are con­stantly
affected by the changes occur­ring
in education; as curriculum and
methods change so the Foundation's
program changes.
Not only is the Foundation respond­ing
to these trends, but it is also ex­panding
its two basic programs as more
colleges and universities demonstrate
that they offer the high caliber of edu­cation
required for entry into the pro­fession.
This year John Carroll Univer­sity
in Cleveland and Arizona State
University have been added to those
now administering the $500 scholastic
awards program. The University of
Arizona has been added to those offer­ing
the $1,000 faculty assistance grants.
tions, the one whose products would be
most readily recognized is Plough, Inc.;
St. Joseph's Aspirin and Coppertone
are among its familiar brand names.
William J. Planthaber has transferred
to Memphis from Houston to take
charge of the enlarged office. Jack L.
Elliott, who has been supervising our
office there as a sub-office of Saint Louis,
will remain to assist him. A reception
and dinner on August 19 in Memphis
provided a warm welcome to the staff
of Homer K. Jones & Co. and served to
introduce all personnel of both offices.
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